Friday, September 9, 2016

Reflections on The Poisonwood Bible-- Part 1

A few months back a friend recommended the book The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara
Kingsolver to me. I had heard of it before from other friends, but last month I
finally took the time to read it. It is a fascinating, well-written, tragic
story about a fictional missionary family in the Congo in the 1960s. Through
this piece of historical fiction, I learned a tremendous amount about the
history of Congo. It has given me a lot to think about regarding the West’s
contribution to poverty, war, and corruption in many African countries, but it
has given me even more to think about as a missionary myself. (Warning: This
post will be full of spoilers so if you want to read the book yourself and form
your own opinions, stop here).

The word “missionary” often comes with a lot of baggage. In
one of my social justice and human diversity classes during grad school, we had
many discussions about “trigger words”—those words that immediately bring a
visceral reaction when we hear them. My professor openly admitted that
“missionary” was one of those words for her. And I get it. There are tragic and
true stories of missionaries—some well-meaning but ignorant and some more
self-indulgent than well-meaning— doing immeasurable harm in the communities
they were called to serve. There are stories of self-righteous, proud
missionaries bringing disease and discord, destroying family and social
structures in an area, and depriving people of the beautiful, unique aspects of
their cultures. Many people immediately associate the word missionary with an
“I’m right, you’re wrong” attitude. They hear about a missionary and assume
that the person will judge and try to “convert” them. I have personally had a
friend of a friend refuse to meet me because he heard that I was a missionary
in Africa. As I said, there is a lot of baggage[1]
and not completely unjustified.

Nathan Price, the missionary and villain in The Poisonwood Bible, is the
archetypical proud missionary who demeans the people of Congo, as well as his
own family. I would love to say that he was just a piece of fiction, but I know
there have been Nathan Prices in our world and still are to varying extents. For
that reason, great anger and sadness welled in my heart as I read about Nathan
Price’s abuses. I hate that many people’s experiences with Christians have been
largely negative and hurtful. I also hate that at various points in my own walk,
I have hurt people. Some such situations are known to me and some I may never
know. Because I am imperfect and always learning, I cannot claim to have done
it all right in my life, much less in my work in my host culture. Yet, as I
read the story, I was also amazed/appalled by how the fictional missionary caricature,
Nathan Price, perceived the world and God and by how incredibly different his
missionary experience was from my own.

There were so many red flags regarding Nathan Price.

Red Flag #1: He
had emotional baggage from being the only surviving member of his unit to
escape the Battaan Death March during World War II. Out of survivor’s guilt, he
decided to earn God’s love and his way into heaven by “saving souls.” Instead
of work as a missionary, he needed extensive therapy and to relearn the basic premise
of Christ’s message-- “You can’t and don’t earn your way to heaven. I love you
as you are, and want a relationship with you. I will do anything, even die, for
that relationship.” Many missionaries these days are required to meet with a
counselor before, after, and/or during their time of service, because whatever
emotional baggage you carry with you is only heightened when you enter into a
new place and culture. Before my missionary service as an HIV educator in Papua
New Guinea, I attended a weeklong training where we learned many things about
culture, expectations, and potential struggles I might have. I was asked to
take four different personality tests and met with a psychologist to discuss
the results and to increase my self-awareness. During my time in PNG, I had
regular meetings with both American and Papua New Guinean mentors and completed
monthly reports to the Education/Formation Director of the Lutheran Deaconess
Association. I also met with a counselor for multiple sessions before and after
my year in PNG. During my time in Tanzania I have also worked with a counselor
via Skype on and off for the last 3 years. I’ve been taught that if you aren’t
in a good place emotionally/mentally, you won’t be able to serve your community
well. Unfortunately, Nathan Price didn’t have or want that kind of support, and
his shame exhibited itself in many forms of abuse, including verbally and
physically abusing his wife and children. He did not love the people around
them, but only sought to manipulate them so that his own tortured soul could be
saved.

Red Flag #2: He
did not enter Congo with the blessing of a mission organization. In fact, the
mission board rejected his request repeatedly but finally relented to give him
a one year post. Thus he had little to no training or accountability. Later in
the story, when Congo gained its independence from Belgium, Nathan Price and
his family were told directly to leave. Yet Nathan refused and also would not
allow his family to leave. As a result, he put their family and community at
risk and became a burden to the very people that he was supposed to be serving.
We have numerous missionary friends who have had to leave their homes very
suddenly, and it is always exceptionally difficult. However, they realized that
it is important for an outside source to be able to make that call, especially
when children are involved.[2]
Accountability, prayer, and support are so important in the work that we do.
One of the things we love about our life in Tanzania is that we have multiple
layers of accountability and support. We have individuals from eighteen different
churches who pray for us and to whom we regularly report via newsletters and
visits during furlough. A member of the Global Lutheran Outreach staff comes
out to visit us at least once a year and guides us through reflection activities
meant to assess our physical, emotional, mental, social, and spiritual health.
What is especially unique to our situation, however, is that our primary
accountability is to our Tanzanian colleagues. We work directly for the Evangelical Lutheran
Church of Tanzania (ELCT); our permits list the ELCT as our employer. This is
not always possible in countries with less established churches, but I do think
that following the advice of mentors and leaders in one’s host culture is
critically important. At school we listen to and act on the priorities of our
headmaster, Rev. Nzelu. In regards to community development projects, we listen
to the priorities of Bishop Makala and never initiate a project without his
blessing. Nathan Price listened to no one—not the mission organization, not the
local leaders, not his family.

Red Flag #3: Nathan
Price believed in the Apocrypha. For those unfamiliar, the Apocrypha is a
collection of writings that have unknown origins and are not generally
considered part of Jewish or Christian scriptures. Sometimes they are included in Jewish
scripture or Christian Bibles as interesting and potentially useful texts, but
not of the same caliber as other scriptures. Often the Apocrypha is in direct
contradiction to texts that have evidence of being written by eye-witnesses and
early disciples of Jesus. In the early days of the Christian church, leaders
had to determine what would be part of the Christian canon (Bible) and
apocryphal texts were considered but rejected. And yet, Nathan Price decided
that they are of equal value to other texts in the Bible. It becomes hard to
establish any kind of theological common ground if you can’t even agree on
which texts should be considered.

Nathan Price also claimed certain phrases that sound like
they might have come from the Bible, but absolutely didn’t. For example, “The
Lord helps those who help themselves” is nowhere in the Bible and is actually
against the very concept of grace. God helps all people, especially those who
realize that they cannot of their own power help themselves. Likewise, “You
have nothing to fear but fear” cannot be found in the Bible. Fear can be
perfectly reasonable and a gift of protection or fear can be a prison. The
Bible does say that perfect love drives out fear.[3]
Unfortunately, Nathan Price only knew fear, the fear of God’s wrath. He never
knew God’s love and was never able to extend love to others.

Red Flag #4: Nathan Price was full of –isms. Racism. Ableism.
Sexism. He left the U.S. at the height
of segregation and entered Belgium Congo at the height of colonialism. He had
been taught that Africans were a cursed people, a curse which dated back all
the way to the time of Noah’s son Ham. Because of this, Nathan only ever saw
himself as the teacher and superior of the people in the village of Kilanga and
never as their student and servant. Thankfully, the vast majority of Christians
today have realized that the concept of “the curse of Ham” is incredibly
inaccurate and damaging. I highly recommend the DVD series “Africa and the
Bible: The Earliest Roots of the Faith” with Wintley Phipps. It shows how
isolated Scripture passages have been used to justify racial oppression and
explores the unique and meaningful role of the African continent in the Bible
and in the early church. Admittedly, American churches and society generally
still have a long way to go before all people are treated as equally loved and
valued by God. However, I am glad that the church has generally denounced any “Biblical”
reasons for racism.

Likewise, Nathan Price looked down on people with
disabilities, which included a large number of people in the community given
how hard their work was on their bodies. His own daughter, Ada, who was
differently abled from birth, felt that she was valued less than others and
actually found comfort from living in a community that did not look down on her
for her limp. Nathan could not see Ada’s unique gifts and all that she could
have taught him.

Nathan Price also looked down upon women. Instead of
encouraging and nourishing the gifts God gave to women in his life, he saw the
education of women as “a waste.” I was taught that men and women were both made
in the image of God and are partners in life and in ministry. To this day,
churches that cannot see this truth frustrate me. Again, this could be a post
in and of itself. In fact there are many, many books written about how women
are integral to the Bible and to Christian theology generally, so for now I
will just say that had Nathan Price treated his wife as his equal and listened
to her, much if not all of the tragedy in their lives could have been
prevented.

Red Flag #5: Nathan
Price believed he was only there to the change those around him, not to be changed
himself. I was taught that if you don’t come back a different person than when
you left, something has gone terribly wrong. The culture and people around you
should change you as you learn from them. He believed he was only there to
teach instead of approaching as a learner first and foremost. I was taught to
find teachers and mentors as soon as you can when you arrive in a new country. One
of my favorite definitions of humility is being teachable, and Nathan lacked
any ounce of humility. If he had opened himself to learning, someone might have
told him that with his mispronunciation instead of saying “Jesus is glorious”
at the end of every service, he said “Jesus is poisonwood.” We were taught to
learn to laugh at ourselves, but Nathan never learned to laugh at his mistakes
or even admit he might make some. He also believed he had all the answers
instead of acknowledging that there are some things for which we just don’t
have answers and won’t this side of heaven. This book touches many huge
questions that Christians have been wrestling with and writing about for
centuries. How can a good God allow such suffering? Does God cause the pain? I can’t fully answer that question, and though
many have tried and there are some profound answers out there, I don’t thinking
anyone can answer the question fully. What I do know is that much pain is
caused by humans, not God. I know that God can use pain and suffering and can
bring healing and resurrection, if we allow him to. I am skeptical of people
and churches who believe they have all the answers, because if they do, where
does faith come into play? Faith in and of itself means that we rely on
something or someone that we do not fully understand. It means taking a leap
without fully knowing what lies beyond. It means trust. While I definitely
would love answers and have at times angrily told God as much, I am also glad
that we have a God bigger than our comprehension. How sad it would be to have a
God that was only as big as our mental capacity.

Based on these factors alone, Nathan Price never should have
been allowed to pastor anyone, much less a community completely foreign to him.
In my next blog I’ll further explore some of the theological concepts that he
warped and used for evil. Stay tuned…

[1] As
a side note, in churches it can be the opposite extreme—people putting you on
some kind of spiritual pedestal. That can also feel like heavy baggage, but
that is probably a different post for a different day.

[2] We
were taught that when children are involved, missionary parents have to be
especially aware of their children’s needs. Obviously there is always a period
of adjustment for kids who move to a new country, so that needs to be taken
into consideration. However we were also taught that you “never sacrifice your
children on the altar of mission,” meaning that there are many ways to serve
God. If serving in your living situation is jeopardizing your children’s
long-term well-being, it is probably time to find another way to serve God. That
being said, tragedy can strike in any land, even to the most discerning parents.
My own great-grandparents suffered the death of a child when they were serving
in China.

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Linda, Eric, Michael and Julia Funke

In September of 2012, we followed God's call and moved to Tanzania. Eric teaches computers, math, and physics at Mwadui Lutheran Secondary School. Linda serves as school's guidance counselor and assists the local Lutheran diocese with development projects. In 2015, our son Michael joined our family. Then in 2017, our daughter Julia became part of our family. This blog provides space for our longer stories and reflections. If you would like to learn more about our ministry, please check out the following links: